Izzy sat at her desk, computer on in front of her and her headphones plugged in. Looks like her iTunes had it in for her, a sappy love song with a waltz beat to currently blasting in her ears, making her heart tighten. She still missed him and it had been a year. School was going to start in a couple of weeks and all she had on her mind was the boy she'd killed. Her fingers were poised over the keys but nothing was coming out. She couldn't get out a word, not even in her journal. It was killing her to keep this all inside.
Suddenly, from the world outside the earbuds, a hip hop beat. Frowning, she pulled one out of her ear and glanced at her closed bedroom door. That couldn't have been Helene. She didn't listen to that kind of stuff. Pausing her music, Isadora stood and moved to the door, tucking her hands in the pocket of her hoodie. The music was coming from the spare bedroom down the hall.
The door was cracked open and she could see someone swaying to the beat, leaning over the bed. Curious, she pushed the door open and the redhead whirled on her.
"Miranda."
"Hey, cousin!" The other siren smiled at her, the smile that meant trouble, plain and simple. This was not good. "Guess who's moving in!"
“She’s just staying with us for a little while. Her mother miscarried again. And I thought you liked your cousin.” Tessa looked at her youngest daughter, a slightly annoyed look on her face. “Besides, she’s soon to be marked, like you. It’s time you started to spend time with sirens your age, talked about getting ready to join the council. There is so much in your future, little one. It’s time you started to get ready for it instead of hiding in your room.”
“I go out, Mom.” She flopped down on the bed as her mother was getting ready to go out. “Lena and I went out two nights ago. I even picked up a sailor.” It wasn’t something she was proud of, but she knew her mother worried. Helene had all but forced her on the boy and she knew she had no choice. She couldn’t disappoint them.
“Is it really that bad that I don’t hang out with girls from the coven?”
Her mother looked at her in the mirror as she put in her earrings. “It reflects poorly on me, little one. I’m one of the prominent members of the coven’s council of elders and my own daughter wants nothing to do with other sirens. It is that bad.” Tessa smiled sympathetically and spritzed perfumes on her wrists and neck and moved to sit next to her daughter. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I’m going through a lot right now. I have to get pregnant, Randa’s here and my sister is having a hard time with this miscarriage. You know how bad I got last time. This is worse for her.”
She knew her aunt Aria had three in a row and her mother only had one. At least the birth before that had been a boy. That was excusable. Poor Aria. Sighing, Isadora pushed herself off the bed. “Alright. I’ll see if any of the girls want to go out with us tonight.”
Tessa smiled. “That’s my girl.” She stood and kissed her forehead before heading out of the bedroom and towards the stairs. “Make sure you watch out for each other. And try not to get blood on your dress, little one!”
